Berkeley Independent - Haley Touts Berkeley's Business Success

News Article

By Steve McDaniel

The home to Alcoa, Nucor, Google, DuPont/Kevlar and other large corporations, the largely rural county has a history of attracting businesses that bring high-paying, stable jobs.

It's a track record not lost on Gov. Nikki Haley, who spoke Friday at the Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting at the North Charleston Convention Center.

Haley's speech focused on the accomplishments of the state in attracting large manufacturers such as Boeing, BMW, Continental Tire, Michelin and several other high-profile corporations. She also talked about the key role Berkeley County has played in that endeavor.

"In our ability to get companies (in South Carolina), Berkeley County is at the top of the list on really working together," Haley told the crowd of around 200 people. "There's never an issue. Everything works so seamlessly, and for that I'm extremely grateful."

Haley also emphasized the need for a strong education framework to ensure that South Carolinians will be the future recipients of jobs offered by the businesses located in the state.

"When I went back home to Bamberg recently for an anti-bullying speech, they didn't even have the equipment to play the video," she said. "That's immoral; that's wrong.

"We went about changing that. We put $177 million more into public education, and we did it without raising taxes," she said. "We decided education was going to be a top priority, and we're never going to stop making education a priority."

She noted that South Carolina's 11 percent unemployment figure in 2011 has improved to 5.7 percent now.

"We have more people working in South Carolina than ever in the history of the state," she said. "We have the fastest growing economy on the East Coast, one of the fastest growing economies in the country."

She attributed that improvement to the state's focus on attracting and keeping businesses, and on making sure the financial environment remains favorable to business growth, and ultimately, more job creation.

Berkeley is the only county in the state to have attracted $1 billion in capital investments in four separate years. Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Elaine Morgan said Friday's event illustrated that success.

"I think we have showcased what an open-for-business place Berkeley County is," she said Friday. "Gov. Haley knows what's good for Berkeley is good for the state, and that message was heard today."

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